You ask
and I say delicious
(that cell/splitting glory that
unfolds until we expire)
            angels on fire
                        come remind us
that this life
is just a prayer

we have been
rendezvousing with the dead
in the small hours
            they say death is nothing
                        but a change of clothes
and setting the stage before
the next act

we are corpsing
our way
through a comedy hour
            so as not to let on
                        that we are amused
so as not to expose ourselves
as alive

while they climb Jacob’s ladder
we drive along the coast and
make waves with
            one hand out the window
                        pushing through air with an open palm
and it is our prayer
(all this living
is just a prayer)

– Julie Henderson

Note: This piece was previously published by TheBeZine.com in December 2017.

Author’s Note: “Ad Vitam” emerged from a conversation about the meaning of the term “corpsing,” which is typically used in television and film writing to describe the moment when actors break stride from their character and convulse in laughter. The other details seemed to coalesce around that main idea/image somehow to describe how quickly we must all abandon the dead in favor of the living if we are to continue in our journey with any joy or success.